Posted on 08/30/2013 1:16:25 PM PDT by greeneyes
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Pickles are one of the things I like to can the best.
My garden is winding down except for the tomatoes and peppers and some peanuts. Have some potatoes to dig that I keep putting off. May just dig them as needed.LOL
About those peppers. If you keep picking the peppers off as soon as you can, they will keep producing.
When the drought hit last summer, I dug up two pepper plants from Hubby’s garden, and put them in a pot. They produced all the rest of the summer on the patio.
When the weather got cold, I brought them indoors, and they continued producing all winter. In late spring this year, I transplanted them outside, where they have produced all summer so far.
Soooooo much easier than tomatoes. It was so great to have them this winter, I could just go in and pick them when needed. If the store had a special on green peppers, I would buy them and let mine grow a little longer till they were the nice red sweet peppers that cost so much at the grocery store.
LOL. Lord have mercy!!!!!!!!
WOW! Great information on peppers! Thanks!
I have a pot of sweet potatoes, and have no clear idea when I should dig them up. (I’m HOPING it’s a “them!”) I was under the impression I could dig them up in late October before the first freezes. The vine is HAPPY and winding all over the place, even after burying it in several laps in the pot over intervals. There’s no more room to bury the vine, so it’s just going every where! It’s just quite beautiful.
Congrats on the start of your seed biz! LOLOLOL!
Wow! you’re doing cross-breeding experiments! We’ll have to start calling you Ellendra-Mendel!
Those squirrels can really be pesky, no doubt about it!
Yum! Berries! We did some strawberries several years ago and had a patch going, then we hit a busy time and they all died out and didn’t restart them again. Past couple of years we’ve been working with our blackberry bushes.I’m glad your strawberries are producing and staying ahead of the rabbits! Maybe your garden fairies are protecting some of them for you! LOL!
Okay; tonight I reneged on the dilly-beans.
Instead, we did 3 pints each of green beans and carrots. Carrots got a dash—yes; I have a set of those spoons—of caraway seeds in each jar. Just waiting for the canner to finish purging, so I can put the weight on it, and start building pressure.
Today, I got a few more oilseed sunflowers harvested; that makes about 20 in all so far; and it also gave us nearly 2.5 pounds of black oilseeds. That’s a lot of seeds/seed planted.
The surviving chick from the snake attack is 100% totally, certifiably, psychotically insane. Since it is now somewhat larger than a large game hen, we’re going to use some of the leeks in the garden, and invite it to a cocky-leeky dinner next week...an offer he can’t refuse.
Yeah, me too.
MORTAR AND PESTLE - Does anyone on the thread have one? I didn’t and have ordered one made of granite.
We have had this 7” granite mortar & pestal for several years, and we love it. http://importfood.com/mortarpestle.html
We use it for grinding whole spices; cracking small amounts of grain; and have used it to make powders & curry paste. We also used it to turn a whole bunch of dried hot peppers into jars of pepper flakes. When I make deviled eggs, I use it to grind a mix of yellow & brown mustard seed into fresh mustard powder for the filling.
You did well in getting a granite one, as they are heavy enough to stay put; are extremely tough; and are non-reactive, so basically food-neutral. Easy to clean, too; usually only needs wiped out, but can be washed if necessary
We also do some dehydrating. In 1986, I paid a distant neighbor $20 for a like-new Waring dehydrator. Still using it. I’ve opened it up a couple times, and cleaned the motor & fan, etc and it works great. keep it in the original box, with the manual, when we aren’t using it. Only downside is that it is such a low capacity. Never had any trouble with dehydrated foods not keeping. I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it.
That’s good to know. Do you put your finished product in vacuum bags? Do you use dessication capsules or whatever you call them?
“We have had this 7” granite mortar & pestal for several years, and we love it.”
I did research on these and I got the same one you have from the same company except I got the 6 inch which holds 1 1/2 cups. It isn’t here yet. I have to grow peppers, sweet and hot and herbs.
You are so accomplished, my efforts pale compared to what you do.
“I have a pot of sweet potatoes, and have no clear idea when I should dig them up.”
That’s what mine are doing, luscious leaves. I read when the leaves die in the fall, dig up the sweet potatoes.
Some sources recommend vinegar to kill weeds. That hasn’t been to successful for us in the past. The soil here is pretty acid, too, and the locals recommend increasing the soil pH with nitrogen. Does your vinegar solution kill the ants or just repel them? Are there specific proportions of the other ingredients that are used? Do you make a tea out of them, or do you sprinkle the actual coffee grounds around and then add the other stuff. The idea of using easily available household ingredients is very appealing. Somebody once told me that ants hate orange peels, so I put the peels in the blender and then poured the suspension on the anthill. Next day, the ants from he** were happily carting pieces of orange rind somewhere. In that neighborhood, I was a tremendous source of amusement. They’d see me come outside with my blender, come over and say, “NOW what are you doing?” (It’s nice to be a source of entertainment to others. Woulda been better if some of those interventions worked.)
Ha! We save up until we can purchase the stuff the real experts (in this case it was JustaDumbBlonde) recommend. We relocated in 2008 and just finished the wraparound deck. Pay-as-you-go works for us. Nothing happens quickly or easily. Prioritization is key. BTW, am building my own rocket stove as soon as the garden slows down.
You are so right about the jerky! We also especially enjoy pear chips and canteloupe chips. The intensity of flavors is astonishing!
The solar oven principle worked really well in the back of my Firebird. That was ideal in the desert.
Since you mentioned JustaDumbBlonde, I was thinking of her lately. It was about this time last year, I believe, that we last heard from her. She is really missed by most on this thread and I hope and pray for her often. In addition to her garden expertise, she is a fine cook. If anyone else ever cooked any of her recipes, you know what I mean. We miss you, JustaDumbBlonde if you are reading this thread.
I know, r_d. I think about her often and hope she and her family are OK. I mentioned her on another thread and JoeProBono found her favorable review of some brand of shoes on Amazon, but I haven’t seen anything since. She was a capable huntress—a woman for all seasons.
Great! I found the best place to buy dwarf citrus trees and it’s in south Texas and they use Texas A&M standards.
Their website is down for maintenance but you can still look at all their options. If you want the tree to be smaller, put it in a smaller container - this is all explained and how to care for the dwarf trees is there, too. For Texas and southern states, I believe this is the place to go, however they do ship to northern states. They ship fruiting age trees, no long wait for fruit.
Take a look at what they have at:
http://www.citrustreesonline.com/
“That’s what mine are doing, luscious leaves. I read when the leaves die in the fall, dig up the sweet potatoes.”
OH THANKS!
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